The Central Pacific eventually met the Union Pacific at Promontory Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869, with Truckee becoming one of the main hubs on its line between Sacramento and Ogden. In May 1868, the CPRR worked on creating a railroad between Truckee and Reno, completed on June 15, 1868, which further connected the lumber industry in Truckee to the silver mines in Virginia City’s Comstock Mining District in the 1870s. With the strike lifted, the Central Pacific worked on sections over the Sierra Nevada Mountains as tunneling continued. The Chinese returned peacefully to work without their demands met and it is unknown what really transpired in the short week strike. With food trains and supplies cutoff, the Chinese were hungry and received verbal threats from Crocker that included fines or not being paid. tried to intimidate the workers back to work and Crocker believed the strike was instigated by opium dealers. Superintendent James Strobridge of the Sisson, Wallace & Co. On June 25, 1867, Chinese workers decided to go on strike, demanding higher wages and a more moderate workday (10-hour days for general work and 8 hour days in the tunnels). The money truly improved their native villages by building new schools, halls, as well as providing protection from gang violence back home. Any extra money saved went home to families via a courier or merchants in San Francisco that served as bankers. In 1867, Chinese for example were paid $35/month (excluded room/board), the equivalent today of approximately $594.00, which was two-thirds less than their Irish-born coworkers. Food, along with tools, were not included in their pay.
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A Sacramento Union Record reporter commented, the Chinese “literally worked and lived under snow.” Living in their own camps near Cisco Grove, each railroad gang was responsible for paying their lead and camp cook. The 1866-67 winter was harsh and powerful to all who worked on the railroad. They were known to regularly bathe in the Truckee River and drank boiled water for tea therefore, suffered little disease compared to other cultural groups that worked on the railroad. They acclimated well to their new surroundings by bonding to their brethren. In perspective, the Chinese immigrants must have experienced a cultural and climatic shock coming to America, not to mention dietary, religious, and language challenges. Huntington, provided financial capital to build the railroad in meeting the Congressional deadline. Crocker, along with his Central Pacific founders Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. The Union Pacific, knowing the tunneling feat through the Sierra Nevada mountains, mocked the Central Pacific early in the process that they would be there before “they could dig out of the Sierras.”Īssisting with this task under the direction of tycoon Charles Crocker of the “Big Four,” the contracting firm of Sisson, Wallace and Company employed 10-15,000 Chinese from Canton’s Guangzhou providence as inexpensive labor as early as 1865. Thousands of Chinese laborers worked on the railroad and were the biggest workforce for the Central Pacific.
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The construction of the first continental railroad was not only a feat but also a competition between two railroads, the western Central Pacific Railroad and eastern Union Pacific Railroad.
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To learn more on this topic, on Saturday, June 22, join a historical talk on the Chinese and their relevance to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, 7-8 p.m., Truckee Airport Conference Room, 10356 Truckee Airport Road, Truckee.įor more information and a list of summer activities going on in Truckee to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the Transcontinental Railroad go to or the Facebook page: Donner Summit-Truckee Golden Spike Celebration.